


Bird Boys Are Weird

by ElenaCee



Series: Devil's Trap [26]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baby Fluff, Baby Nephilim Wings, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Foreshadowing, Married Deckerstar, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-10 20:26:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElenaCee/pseuds/ElenaCee
Summary: As Nathaniel meets the rest of the gang, dark clouds appear on the horizon. At the same time, the Decker-Morningstar household needs to figure out the basic rules of living together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Woo. More fluff headed your way, my faithful readers (and new readers *waves*).
> 
> As always, thanks everyone who left comments and kudos on the preceding parts. You're all my heroes. <3

 “He’s almost as tall as my arm is long,” Trixie announced as she was lounging on the sofa with Nathaniel.

The fledgling was currently clinging to her with his small limbs and wings after an extensive bout of cuddling and tickling, so she had an excellent opportunity to measure him. “And he’s strong!” she added as she gently pried one tiny hand off her, only to have it grasp two of her fingers and immobilize them.

“That he is, Monkey,” Chloe agreed. At barely three weeks old, Nathaniel had already grown to be twice the size he’d had at birth. He now could effortlessly roll over and crawl on hands and knees, and she was pretty sure he only wasn’t crawling all over the place because he still couldn’t see where he was going. His need for physical contact was undiminished, and he tended to lie motionless and make small questing sounds whenever he was left to be on his own, which was why he was only put into his nest briefly and when it couldn’t be avoided. Normally, there was always someone carrying him around or cuddling with him.

His small wings were no longer so fluffy and downy as the first pin feathers had started growing in. They had a beautiful silvery grey color and white tips, and Chloe was so looking forward to seeing what his wings would look like when they were flight worthy.

She continued to sift through files on her laptop in a desultory attempt to get in some paperwork while next to her, her two children continued to fool around on the sofa, giggling.

Then the door opened and Maze blew in. “Hi, Decker, hi, li’l human,” she greeted them, walking to the sofa and hunkering down to stare at Nathaniel. “And hi, tiny half angel, I suppose.”

The baby blindly turned his head towards her, a frown clearly discernible in response to this unfamiliar voice.

Chloe saved her work and closed the laptop. She didn’t exactly expect trouble, but being around the Devil and a demon and a veritable host of angels had taught her to be on her toes.

“His name’s Nathaniel,” Trixie informed Maze with all the pride of an older sister.

Chloe fully expected the demon to make some sort of remark about the name; that it was too ordinary, that it was a mouthful, that it didn’t fit; just anything.

Instead, Maze nodded briskly. “Nathaniel. The Devil’s Spawn. Nice to meet you. I’m Mazikeen. You can call me Maze.”

The baby Nephilim opened his still toothless mouth and made a sound. It wasn’t a word, exactly, but it still sounded surprisingly like an acknowledgement. Or possibly like ‘Maze’.

“I think he’s gonna start talking soon, Mommy,” Trixie said, clearly hearing the same thing. She gently tickled the fledgling. “Are you gonna start talking soon, Nathaniel? Your big sister is sooo looking forward to hearing you speak so we can plot behind our parents’ backs.”

The baby giggled happily.

“Why won’t his eyes open?” Maze asked curiously, not looking away from the little face all the while.

“They’re still developing, apparently,” Chloe said.

“Like with kittens,” Trixie added.

“Huh,” Maze commented. “Bird boys are so weird. Cute wings, though.” She straightened. “Well, I’ll be enjoying the spoils of bounty hunting for a bit, so I’ll be around for the foreseeable, Decker. If you need someone to watch your spawn, just give me a holler. Both of them.”

“Thanks, Maze.”

As they watched, the baby lifted his head and turned it to one side in a motion that was so reminiscent of Lucifer that Chloe had to smile. And then he drew a breath and called.

That really was the best word to describe it. It wasn’t a typical baby cry at all. Nathaniel rarely made sounds that Chloe had learned to expect from her time with Trixie, except when he giggled. Even his demands for food sounded almost musical, more like singing than like crying.

The door opened to admit Lucifer. “Daddy’s home,” he announced, grinning like a loon. “Always wanted to say this. Ooh, hello, it’s quite the gathering in here. Maze. Offspring. Spawn. My love.”

Nathaniel called again, raising his little arms towards the source of the Devil’s voice.

Putting her laptop aside, Chloe got up to greet him while Maze gave her former lord a lazy wave and Trixie, a more enthusiastic one. “He heard you before you came in,” Chloe told him as they hugged and kissed.

“Yes, I could hear him,” Lucifer said, eyes soft as he looked down at her. “I would expect he heard me; I was hardly stealthy.”

Chloe, who hadn’t heard a thing from outside, just let that slide. “How’s Lux?”

“Still standing. I probably needn’t have bothered; my people have things well in hand.”

“So, no trouble with -” _religious zealots, Satanists, conservative citizens_ \- “humans?”

“Not that I’ve noticed. Regular crowd at Lux. All calm. Well, there was a missive.”

She frowned. “Missive? You mean a letter?”

He nodded. “Came in by registered mail, addressed to me personally, private and confidential. Patrick thinks it might be important. I brought it with me, but I haven’t looked at it yet.”

Nathaniel made a noise that sounded so similar to “dad” that they both turned their heads to look at him, the letter forgotten.

And their son was looking back at them. His eyes were open.

“Mommy,” Trixie said in amazement.

Chloe felt her heart swell with emotion. “I know, Monkey.”

“Finally!” Lucifer sighed.

“Dad,” Nathaniel said again, clearly, his tiny arms waving enthusiastically.

He rolled over, away from Trixie, and began to crawl towards Chloe and Lucifer, right towards the edge of the couch, at speed. Trixie made a futile grab for him, but he’d already gone over and tumbled off the sofa - straight into Maze’s waiting hands.

“Woah, little guy,” the demon said, holding him gingerly with both hands around his little chest.

The Nephilim beamed at her, wings flapping, blinking his newly opened eyes, then stretched out his arms again towards Lucifer. “Dad!”

“Did you just say ‘dad’, Nathaniel?” Lucifer asked, going down on one knee next to Maze and putting his index fingers into each of the baby’s grasping hands. The tiny fingers closed about his, and he rose, hands held out in front of him with Nathaniel holding onto his fingers, dangling free and giggling happily. “High time, too. I was beginning to think you were somehow deficient.”

“He’s not even three weeks old,” Chloe pointed out, watching the scene anxiously.

“Exactly. He’s almost three weeks old. I could speak long before then.”

“Dad!” Nathaniel said again, beaming at Lucifer out of big blue eyes, his tiny wings flapping wildly as he hung in mid-air. “Dad, dad, dad!”

“That’s right! Congratulations! A vocabulary of one entire word. I’m impressed.”

“Lucifer,” Chloe admonished him. That was looking precarious, even if Nathaniel really was very strong and had proven before that he could hold his own weight.

The Devil nodded amiably. “You’re absolutely right, my love. This won’t do at all. Can you say ‘mum’, Spawn?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I --”

“Mum!” Nathaniel repeated, turning his head towards Chloe and regaling her with his gaping smile.

She saw it coming before Lucifer did. Nathaniel let go of his fingers to reach out for Chloe, and promptly started to fall in a flurry of wildly flapping but still ineffective wings. She barely managed to catch him before he hit the floor.

His big dark blue eyes fairly beamed at her as she raised him back up, her heart thudding in shock, but he seemed completely unfazed by his near crash. “Mum!” he repeated, fisting his fingers into her hair as he clung to her.

“Oh, baby, Mommy’s got you,” Chloe said, instinctively holding her son close, feeling his short wings brush her face as he mantled them around her neck in a wing hug.

“That’s two words; amazing!” Lucifer commented, as blasé about it all as his son.

“His eyes are the same color as yours, Mom,” Trixie said excitedly, joining the huddle.

Chloe breathed and breathed again as she pried Nathaniel’s hands loose so he’d stop inadvertently pulling her hair. “This is what’s gonna be happening all the time with you now, yeah? You plummeting to the floor?”

Nathaniel giggled.

Lucifer grinned proudly. “Absolutely. He needs to get a feel for navigating in the air. This includes learning what he needs to do when he falls.”

Maze flung herself onto the sofa, visibly trying not to look affected by the cute. “Like I said. Bird boys are weird.”

 

* * *

 

They only remembered the letter much later, when Nathaniel and Trixie were in Maze’s care (they were playing hide-and-seek in the living room; Chloe had promised herself not to hover). Lucifer pulled it out of his jacket and tore it open.

“Oh,” he said, frowning, “it’s a summons. Apparently, a delegation of high-ranking officials want to have a face-to-face with the Devil.”

“What?” Chloe snatched the letter out of his hands. _You are kindly requested… establish a baseline… extraordinary situation… prevent a potential escalation… political, clerical, and military leaders…._ “Ugh.” She could find no reference to herself; apparently, they just wanted Lucifer. “They want to make a threat assessment,” she interpreted. “This could easily turn ugly, Luce.”

He shrugged. “I don’t see how it could. I’m less of a threat to you humans than Dad. Even your Bible says so. One of the few things it gets right.”

She tossed the letter into the general direction of their bed to have her hands free and used them to grasp his. “They’re scared. They will try to lock you away at the slightest provocation, and that’s the least that can happen. If the military’s involved….”

“Nonsense.” He gave her a bright smile. “We’ll have a nice chat, they’ll tell me what they desire, and I’ll offer them a deal. Or several, if I must.” Her expression must have conveyed her skepticism, because he, too, turned more serious. “Look. I’ve always been upfront about being the Devil. Before Christianity became so widespread, humanity even believed me. This isn’t the first time something like this happened. I’ve faced lots of tribunals in my time on Earth. They’ve always come round to my point of view.”

“Don’t underestimate the religious zealots, Lucifer. The fanatics. Those that won’t listen to reason. What if their deepest desire is to destroy you?”

He scoffed. “They’re welcome to try.” He looked down at the amulet around his neck that protected him from Devil’s Traps. “Now that I’ve got this, there’s nothing they can really do to me.”

She hadn’t wanted to do it, but it was time to bring out the big guns. “What about Nathaniel? What about me? You didn’t have to worry about anyone but yourself before.”

He smiled. “I also didn’t have Dad on my side before. Or my siblings.”

She opened and closed her mouth. “That’s… actually a pretty solid point.”

“Isn’t it?” His smile acquired a more devilish edge. “Don’t worry, my love. This’ll be a walk in the park. Also, it’s a month away, so not a problem yet.”

She fought herself, and lost. “Your word in Dad’s ear.”

He chortled and kissed her, and things degenerated from there.

 

* * *

 

“Hello, Nathaniel. I am Amenadiel, your uncle.”

Nathaniel, currently sitting up unaided and wingless on Lucifer’s knee, regarded the black-skinned angel crouching before him with open curiosity. “‘Menadiel,” he said slowly.

Lucifer bent over him to nuzzle his fine dark hair. “Say it properly, Son. Names are important.”

The fledgling twisted around to give Lucifer a look, which the Devil returned with a serious nod.

Chloe and Amenadiel exchanged a glance, both of them biting their lips to keep from grinning. This was too adorable. Like, there was an ‘aww’ moment every two seconds. Chloe mused that she might as well just keep recording constantly so she didn’t miss a thing.

Then Nathaniel turned back to his uncle. “Amenadiel,” he said clearly.

“That’s right,” Amenadiel praised. “I am honored to meet you, young Nephew.”

“Amenadiel,” Nathaniel repeated, leaned forward, sprouted his little wings, and launched himself into his uncle’s arms without warning.

Amenadiel caught him expertly, a wide smile on his face. “Oh, Luci, this brings back memories.”

Lucifer scowled. “I was never this tiny.”

“As I remember it, you were precisely this tiny.” Rising, he tossed the fledgling up above his head and caught him as he came flapping back down squealing in delight, only to toss him upward again. “Have you gone flying with him yet?”

“Not yet.” Lucifer got to his feet as well. “I thought maybe tomorrow. Want to come?”

“I’d love to.” Amenadiel caught his nephew and held him up in front of his face. “Would you like that, Nathaniel? Flying outside, with us?”

“Uhm,” Chloe started to object, “isn’t it way too soon for that?”

“Phlying!” Nathaniel crowed as best he could with no front teeth. “Phlying! Phlying!” He twisted his head towards Lucifer and pointed. “Phlying dere!”

“Okay,” Amenadiel agreed, and tossed the fledgling at Lucifer.

“He needs to exercise his muscles, my love.” Lucifer held his hands up towards the approaching wildly flapping ball of mostly down feathers. “He can do that best away from things to collide with.” Catching Nathaniel, he tossed him right back at his brother, eliciting more delighted squeals. “We’ll fly out over the ocean. Plenty of open space there, and it’s not like he can drown.”

Chloe realized that this clearly was another area where her human instincts were useless, so she literally bit her tongue while the two angels tossed her small son back and forth like he was a fluttering, giggling football.

“Oh, and Father sends His regards,” Amenadiel said, coolly waiting until Nathaniel had almost reached knee level before catching him (Chloe had to suppress a small scream).

Lucifer said nothing for a moment. “You know,” he finally said, “it’s going to take me another few eons to get used to that.”

“You’re not alone.” Amenadiel cradled the panting and giggling Nephilim to his chest, gently patting his back to calm him down and running his fingers along each small wing in turn, eliciting high-pitched purring sounds. “It’s a new age, for all of us.” He cupped the small head with his large hand. “And Nathaniel is the first who will grow up knowing nothing else. And while we’re on the subject of your son, Father also sends His blessing.” He kept his hand there a bit longer, then removed it.

“Ooh,” Lucifer said, intrigued. “What is it?”

“I’m not supposed to tell. Nathaniel will find out, and so will you.”

Chloe gave each of them a look. “What are you talking about?”

Amenadiel went back to patting Nathaniel’s back. “His God-given power. The one he would have been born with if he had been ‘of God’, like we are. As it is, He asked me to be the messenger.”

Lucifer made a face. “Of course He did.”

“Luce,” Chloe admonished him, amused at this evidence of brotherly jealousy.

“I could have done it,” Lucifer pouted.

Amenadiel smiled a smug smile. “Too late. Besides, then you’d have known already what his power is. Father thinks it’s a good idea if you don’t.”

“Keeping me in ignorance, as always,” Lucifer grumbled, but Chloe could tell that his heart wasn’t in it.

Nathaniel, still cradled against Amenadiel’s chest, made a demanding sound.

“I thought we had moved past the non-verbal stage,” Lucifer commented. “What are you trying to say, Son? More flying? Are you hungry? Is Uncle Amenadiel mean to you, too? Be more specific.”

“He’s hungry,” Chloe decided, getting up to take Nathaniel. “It’s been three hours since his last meal.”

The fledgling turned his face towards her and gave her his best toothless smile. “Mum!”

“Yes, Baby.”

“Mum!”

She supposed she should have seen it coming, but it still was a surprise when Nathaniel didn’t wait to be picked up and simply launched himself at her, tiny wings flapping like a hummingbird’s in slow-motion.

 

* * *

 

The following few days were a blur. One by one, Lucifer’s siblings came to visit and to introduce themselves to their young nephew. Nathaniel responded to the steady influx of unfamiliar faces with serene stoicism, carefully repeating each new name, and then, with the same quicksilver switching of mood that characterized Lucifer, turning into a ball of enthusiasm and flinging himself at each of his new friends with childlike abandon. Chloe could tell that he was melting ancient celestial hearts right and left.

Lucifer had _a lot_ of siblings.

Finally, Chloe couldn’t suppress her cabin fever any longer and decided to bring their son into the precinct to have some humans oohing and aahing over him for a change (her mom had done her best in that regard, but even she couldn’t compete with dozens of angels). Now that Nathaniel could see, there was no reason to keep him inside any longer, anyway.

Lucifer agreed. “Right,” he said as he was holding him in the crook of one arm, “this is a car. Humans use it to get to remote places fast. They’re a recent invention. It was horseback riding or horses and carriages for the longest time.”

“What are horses?” the Nephilim wanted to know.

“We’ll get to that. Eventually. For now, we’re riding in this car. This is the door of the car, it opens like this. Your mother will drive, because she doesn’t trust me to keep to the speed limit.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

“She’s an excellent driver, of course,” the Devil continued smoothly as he strapped himself in. “Now, this is important, Son. Are you listening?”

Nathaniel stopped his examination of the various buttons on the dashboard to look at Lucifer. “Yeth, Dad.”

“Gosh, it’s high time your teeth started growing in. Anyway, when we’re not inside, you need to keep your wings hidden, all right? Humans don’t have wings, and they tend to react funnily if they see someone who has them. Okay?”

“Okay, Dad.”

“This also means that you hold onto me or your mother at all times and don’t try to fly anywhere, including down.”

“Okay.”

“No launching yourself at any of the humans we’ll be meeting. Let them pick you up if they choose to.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll tell you when you can fly again. Until then, no wings. Okay?”

“Yeth, Dad.”

“Splendid. If you manage that, we’ll go flying together this evening. Deal?”

“Phlying in the dark?”

“Yes, why not?”

“Then deal.”

Chloe shook her head. “Did our son just negotiate with the Devil?”

Lucifer gave her a grin. “Must be your offspring’s influence.”

“Right.”

 

* * *

 

“Awww, I can’t believe it. He’s so cute!”

“He’s got your eyes, Decker.”

“Aren’t you the cutest little thing!”

“He’s so small. Are babies supposed to be this tiny?”

“Can I hold him?”

“I’d’ve thought that the actual Antichrist would look scarier.”

“I’m Nathaniel,” the fledgling said clearly over the babble of voices as Chloe held him. “Who are you?”

The sea of smiling cops that had congregated around her went still.

“It’s only polite to introduce yourselves,” she said into the silence. “He can understand you, you know.”

“Wow,” Ella said. “That’s… unexpected.” She put on her more cheerful smile. “Hi, Nathaniel, I’m Ella. Ella Lopez. Nice to meet you.”

“Humans usually have more than one name, Son,” Lucifer explained from behind Chloe. “You can call her Ella, I suppose.”

“Your daddy calls me Miss Lopez.” She continued to beam. “Because he’s Lucifer.”

“Can I call you Ella?” Nathaniel asked in his clear, high-pitched baby voice, to renewed oohs and aahs from the chorus of hardened cops.

“Of course!” Ella held out her hands. “Can I hold you?”

“Yeth, Ella.”

Chloe held him up, half expecting him to sprout and flap his wings as he usually did when he was lifted, but in honor of his deal, he remained wingless, patiently letting himself be picked up by Ella, who proceeded to hug him to her.

She grinned in delight as the fledgling hugged her neck with his small arms. “Right, that’s it, Decker. He’s such a great hugger, I’m not giving him back. Sorry.” She turned around as if to leave.

Nathaniel screeched.

It was a loud, piercing sound that made Chloe’s hair stand on end. She could see her son’s face over Ella’s shoulder, his eyes fixed on her, wide open in fear.

He had never looked anything other than happy. The sight of him now was like a punch to Chloe’s gut. Next to her, Lucifer took a step forward.

Then Nathaniel’s eyes flashed hellfire red, and he screeched again. Chloe noted gratefully that she and Lucifer were the only ones who could see it, as Nathaniel’s back was to the rest of the bullpen.

Still, everyone was staring, frozen mid-motion in shock. Those screeches had sounded _inhuman._

“Oh my God, oh my God, I’m sorry!” Ella said, turning back to face her and holding him out. “It was a joke! Here, take him back, Chloe. I’m so sorry!”

Chloe took her son from her friend, feeling him cling to her as she cradled him against her, his little body shaking with his sobs.

“Mum,” he whimpered softly, “Mum.”

“It’s okay, Baby, it was just a joke. Ella would never hurt you, or take you away from me. She’s a great friend.”

Ella hovered nearby, wringing her hands. “I’m so sorry, little guy. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“See? Ella is sorry. It’s okay. Everything’s fine.” As Chloe continued to hold and rock the fledgling, she noticed Lucifer standing next to her, as motionless as the cops. “Settle down,” she whispered to him. “No harm done. He’s already much calmer.”

He exhaled gustily. “Right.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, a little louder for the people in the back, “maybe take into account that jokes and irony and sarcasm and all that is something human children only learn when they’re six or so. Nathaniel is barely a month old, so.”

“Joke?” his tiny voice said next to her ear.

“Yep. Joke,” Lucifer said, gently stroking his son’s back as the Nephilim continued to cling to Chloe. “You see, jokes are meant to be funny. Like when you say something but mean something else, but everyone laughs because they all know what you’re really saying. It’s not exactly easy to explain, actually. I expect you’ll learn it when you’re older.”

Meanwhile, the general shock had worn off, and there was some muttering about giving the baby space and maybe going back to work. Only Ella continued to lurk, still looking like she was about to jump off a cliff in self-recrimination.

“And now that Ella has apologized, Son,” Lucifer continued, “it’s good manners to accept the apology, and to forgive her. Can you do that?”

“I’m really, really sorry,” Ella said, picking up her cue like a pro. “Can you forgive me, Nathaniel?”

Nathaniel twisted around in Chloe’s grasp to face Ella. “Didn’t want to take me away?” he clarified.

“No,” Ella said with her most sincere expression. “I would never take you away from your mom and dad. Never ever. I swear.”

Nathaniel smiled, which Chloe could see in Ella’s answering smile. “Okay!” he said, the smile audible in his voice. “I phorgibhe you.”

Lucifer sighed. “It’s _really_ time for your front teeth to grow in, Son.” 


	2. Chapter 2

“Yes,” Chloe insisted.

This assertion was met with a wide grin and two sparkling blue eyes blinking up at her. “No!” came the prompt, cheerful rebuttal.

_ “Oh _ yes,” Chloe intoned, trying to keep her expression stern. “This is non-negotiable.”

“Why?” her interlocutor objected, still grinning.

Chloe mused that Nathaniel had mastered the English language incredibly fast, now that he finally had all of his teeth. Maybe that was his special power - being omnilingual, like Lucifer? Whatever it was, it meant that she didn’t have to mince her words for his sake. “Because it’s not up for discussion. You’re wearing clothes when we go outside, and that’s final.”

“Aw,  _ Mum.” _

Yep, she definitely could see where Lucifer’s genes had contributed to their son’s genetic makeup, and not just by his abnormally fast development. At two months old, Nathaniel had started eating real food, no longer needed diapers (to Lucifer’s abject relief), and could even speak in complete sentences. He still hadn’t mastered walking or true flying, but his crawl speed had reached an alarming degree. And he could climb. And drop off whatever he’d climbed on, flapping his wings dramatically but never hurting himself.

He also had erratic sleep patterns and, as it turned out, an aversion to clothes.

“Don’t you ‘aw mum’ me, Little Birdie. We’re all wearing clothes, so you will be, too.”

“Clothes are okay, Nath,” Trixie put in. “Being naked in public is frowned upon, you know.”

The little devil turned his attention to his big sister. “Why?”

Oh, so they had reached  _ that  _ stage already, had they. Chloe sent an imploring glance heavenwards.  _ Dad, give me strength. _

Meanwhile, Trixie picked up the slack with all the patience of one who had never been on the receiving end of the relentless ‘why’. “It’s a cultural thing. Modern people wear clothes. It’s the done thing, too. If you don’t wear any, you come across as crazy. Or as really, really poor.”

“Or as an emperor,” Nathaniel objected.

Chloe now regretted ever having read that story to her son. In true Morningstar fashion, he had completely missed the point and instead had seized the option of being naked at all times, which was why they were in this current mess at all. In his defense, though, she’d let herself be deceived by his aptitude with the language into thinking he was old enough to understand similes when he was clearly still a baby, with all the literal-mindedness that came with it.

“Why are you so opposed to wearing clothes, anyway?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“They feel…” The fledgling’s face assumed an expression of intense concentration. “... Constricting,” he finally said.

The word sounded so cute when he said it in his high baby voice that Chloe had to smile. He sure never let her forget for one second that he wasn’t an ordinary child. “That’s because you grow like weed. But these clothes are new. They fit you perfectly yesterday. So, no more objections. If you want to come outside with us, you’ll wear ‘em. That’s the deal.”

“I never agreed to that deal,” Nathaniel pointed out - Chloe had to fight to keep a straight face -, but he let himself be dressed without any further objection.

This was followed by a brief difference of opinion about the relative worth of the stroller versus Mom’s arms, but Chloe put her figurative foot down, and finally, once the car was parked on the lot outside the market and the fledgling was firmly installed in the wheeled contraption, they were ready to face the world. Or at least the supermarket.

Chloe strapped him in, because she’d only needed to witness him launching himself off the thing once. “Remember, no wings. We’re going to make a brief supply run in the market, and then we can go to the playground afterwards. Absolutely no wings there, either.”

“Why?”

“Now you’re just being stubborn. I know Daddy told you why no wings.”

Fortunately, the Devil’s son had also inherited his father’s love for the truth. “... Maybe.”

“Where’s Lucifer, Mom?” Trixie interjected.

“He’ll be joining us in a bit, Monkey. He’s taking care of something.”

They went inside and along the aisles, Chloe explaining things all the while. Nathaniel kept playing with the clasp of the strap holding him in his stroller, effortlessly opening and closing it while asking either “what’s this” or “why”, with the occasional “what for” thrown in.

Trixie tried to help with that, which proved fortuitous as soon as Chloe, next to the produce, became entangled in the typical mom questions from other parental units on foraging duty.

“How old is yours?”

“He seems really tiny. I hope he’s okay.”

“Aw, he’s adorable.”

“I wish mine could speak as well as yours, and he’s at least twice as big as yours.”

“How old did you say he was?!”

“He seems a handful. Does he sleep well? Mine keeps waking me up at ungodly hours.”

As Chloe tried to field all this, she overheard her two charges conversing at hip height.

“That’s an aubergine,” Trixie was saying. “You need it for ratatouille, with tomatoes and peppers. I watched Lucifer make one once. It was delicious.”

“.... ‘Stirred rat’?” Nathaniel said slowly.

“What?”

“You said  _ ‘rat-à-touille’. _ ‘Stirred rat’. Sounds like it’s fun. Where do we buy the rat?”

“There’s no rat in it, silly. It’s a vegetable stew. No meat.”

“Oh. It’s badly named, then.”

The congregation of stroller pushers fell silent, distracted by this discourse.

“It’s a French meal,” Trixie went on, oblivious to their audience. “No idea why it’s called that. It’s also a movie. The movie does have rats in it. And also the meal.”

“Can we watch that?” Nathaniel picked up his cue, tilting his head back to look at Chloe upside down. “Watch Ratatouille and eat ratatouille?” He giggled at his own wit, going from smartass to baby in half a second.

“You’re not old enough for that movie, Birdie,” Chloe said, without conviction and solely for the benefit of their audience, who looked ready to descend on her for the slightest transgression against the sacred laws of child-rearing - or maybe that was just her imagination. “It’s for children aged six and up, if I remember right.”

“Why?”

“There’s some intense scenes in it that may scare you and give you nightmares.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re too young to understand them. And if you ask why that is, I think you know what the answer will be.”

“Because that’s the way it is?”

“Exactly. Sometimes, there’s no reason. Some things simply are the way they are.”

“Because Granddad made them so?”

Chloe cast a surreptitious look around, hoping that none of the young parents within earshot had understood that reference and, Dad forbid, put two and two together.

“Did you know that the aubergine emoji also stands for something else?” Trixie came up with by way of running interference, managing to reduce a volatile situation to a mere social faux-pas.

Fortunately, Chloe was saved from having to defuse that one by the timely arrival of the Devil.

“Hello,” Lucifer purred, appearing from the next aisle as if conjured by magic. Chloe knew he must have flown here, locating her with the help of the feather pendant around her neck. He smiled his lady killer smile at the impromptu gathering before focusing on Chloe. “My love. Beatrice. Nathaniel.”

“Dad!” Nathaniel crowed, wiggling his short arms in greeting, while Trixie waved enthusiastically.

He inspected the contents of the cart Trixie was pushing with an air of the connoisseur he was. “What’s the plan?”

“Stirred rat,” Nathaniel said immediately.  _ “Sans rat.” _

_ “Je l’espère,” _ Lucifer agreed. “Right. You’re missing spices, then, and all the actual ingredients. But you’ve got a surplus of chocolate cake and gummy bears. I approve.”

“Have you been teaching our son to speak French?” Chloe couldn’t help asking, still very aware of their attentive audience.

“Didn’t need to,” Lucifer told her, grinning. “He’s my son, after all.”

This was when their audience went from silent breathlessness and not-so-covert ogling to muted whispering.  _ Devil, _ she could hear, and  _ Antichrist. _

She lowered her voice. “Lucifer, maybe we should go.”

This was met with a raised-eyebrows look of blank surprise. “But I only just got here, and I can’t make ratatouille with  _ that.” _ He pointed at the contents of the cart.

“What  _ does _ the aubergine emoji also stand for?” Nathaniel piped up.

“Daddy’ll explain later,” Chloe said quickly, grabbing one of the vegetables in question and putting it into their cart. “We’re in a hurry.” A quick glance around assured her that the onlookers hadn’t made any offensive moves yet and instead were giving them space. The whispers still were in evidence, though.

Of course, Lucifer heard them eventually. “Bloody hell, yes, I’m the Devil, and yes, this is my son. No, he’s not the Antichrist, that’s nonsense, just like the goat thing. And now, can anyone here tell me where I can find some  _ herbes de provence, _ please?”

His words were met with silence.

“Lucifer,” Chloe said sotto voce, “forget the spices; let’s just go.”

“Sorry, my love, no can do, at least not right now. I’m missing some fresh sage and oregano. Be a travesty to make ratatouille with the dried version.”

“Dad, what’s an Antichrist?”

The devil took hold of the stroller and began to push his son down the aisle. “That’s an urban myth, Son. Allegedly, his birth is one of the signs that herald the Apocalypse, and before you ask, yes, even though  ἀποκάλυψις meant something else originally, today  it’s another word for the end of times. We’ll get treated to that without anyone special being born, though. It’s kind of instilled into the workings of the universe. Things come to be, and eventually they end. So, nothing to do with you, or me, or any one of us. It’s all on your Granddad’s ineffable design.” His voice faded as he disappeared around the next corner, leaving behind an uneasy standoff.

“You’re Chloe Decker,” a young mother - the one whose son was bigger than and still couldn’t speak as well as Nathaniel - eventually said for the benefit of the rest of the parents.

“Yeah, I am,” she said in her what’s-it-to-you voice.

“Sorry to bother you, but… is he really the Devil?”

She braced herself. “Yeah. My husband’s the actual Devil. It’s all true. And you know what? It doesn’t matter, because he’s simply a good man.”

“He’s… certainly not at all like I expected the Devil to be,” the young woman continued. “He seems  _ nice.” _ She said it like it was a personal affront.

“Looks nice, too,” another woman said, to general muttered agreement. “I mean, I love my husband, but… sorry.”

“Right,” Chloe said, mentally reclassifying the situation from potentially disastrous to merely annoying. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a ratatouille to shop for that the Devil will cook for us later today.” Grabbing Trixie’s hand, she followed the sounds of the Devil and the Antichrist debating the merits of ice cream for dessert.

 

* * *

 

“But you said we’d go to the playground after,” Nathaniel not quite whined.

“I know I did, Angel, but that may have been a bad idea.”

This was met with looks of incomprehension all around. Chloe sighed. “Look, I just want all of us to have a good time, but there are some people who --”

“How can we have a good time if we don’t go to the playground?” Nathaniel argued, inarguably. “Besides, you promised.”

“Technically, I didn’t promise. I said that’s the plan. Plans can change.”

“We had a deal!” Yep, definitely whining now.

She made a sound of frustration. This was like dealing with a mini Lucifer, and no mistake.

The big version was following all this with a delighted smile while patently being no help at all.

Right. This ended here. “Lucifer, can you please explain to your son that there are times when changing plans is a good and acceptable thing?”

The Devil merely looked at her thoughtfully.

She looked back. “What?”

“Is this about the desperate housewives squad back there?” he enquired, nodding in the direction of the supermarket as they were all standing next to Chloe’s car.

She pulled him down by one lapel of his suit and got up on her tiptoes so his ear was next to her mouth. “That could have gotten ugly real easily. Don’t you think it’s enough excitement for one day?”

He turned his head to look at her from up close. “You’re not actually scared of them, are you?” Whatever he saw in her eyes must have answered that question for her, because he went on, “Look, we can’t spend the next few years hiding Nathaniel from humanity, or however long it’ll take him to grow up. He needs to interact with other children, at least according to the Internet, and Doctor Linda agrees. He needs to bump his head and skin his knees, figuratively speaking, obviously. If it really does ‘get ugly’, which I doubt, I’ll fly us all out. Deal?”

She bit her lip, two opposing instincts warring within herself. On the one hand, she needed to protect her baby devil from those who wouldn’t understand him with everything she had. On the other, she knew that Lucifer had a point. Coddling him and keeping him in a completely threat-free environment would, in the long run, do more harm than good.

Finally, she realized that she needed to tell her mama bear instincts to take a backseat. “You’re right,” she sighed. “And you have a deal.”

His bright smile rewarded her. “Lovely.”

 

* * *

 

And so, they did go to the playground, much to Nathaniel’s delight. Soon, he and Trixie were crawling all over the monkey bars amidst two or three other children of various ages, all under the watchful eyes of their respective parental units.

“I can see it coming,” Chloe muttered, never looking away from the proceedings. “I’m clairvoyant. I can see the future. I know what’s going to happen.”

Lucifer’s warm hand moved to cover hers as she was sitting on one of the benches surrounding the playground. “He can’t really hurt himself.”

“I know that. I also know that he’ll drop off these bars at some point, and he’ll use his wings to break his fall, and someone will see them who shouldn’t, and I just hope you’re ready to get us out of here.”

“Don’t worry, my love. I’ll protect us from all these fierce warriors.” He nodded at the young father on the next bench, shapeless shorts and a baggy tank top covering his equally out-of-shape body, who was dividing his attention between a girl on the swing and his phone. “I mean, that one clearly is carrying some sort of divine weapon that can slay the Antichrist.”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe not him.” She pointed her chin the other way, where three figures were standing near the playground, too far away to be supervising any children, yet close enough to observe everything. “These guys turned up after we settled here. And I’m pretty sure they were on the parking lot as we were coming out of the supermarket.”

“Really?” She could hear his grin in his voice. “Want me to go have a chat with ‘em?”

She turned her hand around under his to grasp his fingers. “Let’s not force a confrontation. Just wait and see first. They may be harmless after all. Or they may be here for other, well, more perverse purposes.” In which case Lucifer wouldn’t be the only one wanting a chat with them.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel had reached the highest point of the structure some seven feet above ground and hoisted himself up to a sitting position next to Trixie. They were talking, pointing occasionally at nothing Chloe could see, and nodding seriously at whatever the other one was saying. She guessed they were playing at pirates, which was their current favorite.

This, of course, was when the imaginary enemy ship apparently attacked, because Trixie yelled something about heaving to and dropping the mainsail, while Nathaniel waved his arms, shouted a high-pitched “Man the cannons, ye scurvy landlubbers!” and promptly overbalanced, dropping backwards and off the bars, headfirst.

Chloe was on her feet before her brain had processed everything.

As if in slow motion, she could see the little gray wings appear and flutter wildly, still too downy to actually provide lift but managing to right him and allowing him to land with an only slightly inelegant belly flop on the sand underneath the monkey bars. And there he lay, stunned only for a second, before getting up on his knees, shrugging away his wings, and yelling, “This foul deed will not protect you from the wrath of the Sea Devil!”

Trixie, meanwhile, was climbing back down, by now too used to her little brother plummeting off things to be worried, waving an imaginary scimitar. “Black Beatrice shall fight by your side, Sea Devil,” she shouted, flinging herself in front of him from halfway up the bars and landing in a flurry of sand in a move that Chloe suspected she’d learned from Maze.

To Chloe’s enormous surprise, none of the other children or parents ostensibly watching them seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Even the three onlookers nearby hadn’t reacted to the sight of the winged child. Apparently, it was true that people only ever saw what they wanted to see.

One by one, the other children joined in the game, and soon, Trixie captained a crew of five fearless sea marauders about to take on the USS Endeavor.

“I think you can now sit down again, my love,” Lucifer said from behind Chloe. “Also, I think it’s time to re-negotiate the no wings rule, don’t you?”

 

* * *

 

Ratatouille, both the meal and the movie, was met with general approval. They had to stop the playback a few times to explain things to Nathaniel, but Chloe still doubted that he had truly grasped that rats couldn’t talk. Then again, maybe they could - to him.

As active as Nathaniel was, he was also capable of conking out literally mid-sentence, and eventually, Lucifer picked his sleeping son up to bring him to his nest while Chloe dealt with storytime for Trixie. Not surprisingly, it was a pirate tale this time.

When she returned to their bedroom, Lucifer was already in bed, curled up on his side underneath the comforter, eyes closed, arms wrapped around himself and one hand resting lightly on his own face.

The truly sad thing was that Chloe didn’t even notice that at first. She got ready for bed, slid under the comforter, and turned towards the Devil to see if he was still awake and kiss him good-night, and that was when she finally saw the lonely self-hug, and her heart plummeted.

“Lucifer,” she whispered, nearly sick with remorse.

His eyes opened, and he gave her his soft, gentle smile.

“I’m so, so sorry.” The backs of her eyes were pricking.

“What for?” he asked, again putting himself last, without complaining, seemingly without even realizing he was doing it. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

She lay down close to his warmth and replaced his hand on his face with both of hers. “I’ve been neglecting you,” she breathed, not trusting her voice. “I’ve been focused on Nathaniel so much that I’ve neglected my Devil. I never wanted that to happen.” It had been days since they’d have time for just cuddling. She hadn’t seen his true face in almost a whole week.

His eyes had closed at her touch; he moved his head just so, to press his face more firmly against her palms. “You’re here now, and you still… feel…  _ love _ for me.” He sounded like he had to physically push the word out. His eyes opened. “That’s more than enough.”

“No, it’s not,” she insisted. “I promised myself I’d always be there for you, and I wasn’t.” She kissed the smooth skin of his forehead between her softly stroking fingers and leaned back to look into his eyes, wishing she could see the softly glowing orange that was concealed by his human dark brown glamour. “I haven’t even truly touched you in a while.”

He merely looked back at her.

“Please, Lucifer. Shift. Let me touch you.”

In the soft light of her bedside lamp, she could see his glamour fade, and she folded him into her arms with a sense of homecoming that made her eyes fill and spill over. He didn’t notice; his own eyes had closed again when she hugged him. He drew a ragged breath that told her more than words how much he had needed this.

_ I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry _ she wanted to say, but she bit her lips to keep it inside. This wasn’t about her. She would be focusing on him, on the needful way he chased her hands with his face, on his  _ hunger _ for her touch.

_ Never again, _ she silently promised him.  _ I’ll never let things go this far again. _

 

* * *

 

Much later during the night, there was a soft bumping sound from the next room that woke her up. She dimly noticed Lucifer leaving their bed.

“Go back to sleep, my love,” he whispered. “I’ll entertain him.”

And she did, secure in the knowledge that, come morning, she’d find him and their baby child somewhere around the house, conversing in whatever language they had chosen this time, maybe wind-swept from having been out flying, maybe with Lucifer working on breakfast while Nathaniel did some serious stress testing on the curtain rails, or the lamp fittings. Maybe one of Lucifer’s siblings would be there, too, having invited himself or herself for some family bonding.

And she’d go and wake up Trixie, and it would be the start of yet another day full of deals and heartwarming moments and Celestials and humans making up the rules of trying to carve out a life together.

She smiled to herself. She was looking forward to it.


End file.
